SAC Places 16 on Daktronics Men’s Soccer All-Region Team

The South Atlantic Conference dominated the 2006 Daktronics All-Appalachian Region Men's Soccer Team, securing 16 of the 22 spots, including 10 on the First Team.

Members of the All-Southeast Region first team will advance to the national ballot and be eligible for the 2006 Daktronics Men's Soccer All-American team. Voting for the Daktronics Women's Soccer All-Appalachian Region Team was conducted among the Sports Information Directors at Appalachian Region institutions.

Named to the First Team were: Tyler Baldock, Dario Carrasco and Thomas Ostvold from Carson-Newman; Leandro Pereira, Diogo Silvy and Filipe Nogueira from Lincoln Memorial; Amar Brkic and Ged Quinn from Lenoir-Rhyne; and Nathan Zuzga and Ryan Villard from Catawba.

Named to the Second Team were: Omar Cooke and David Carassco, Carson-Newman; Brent Cole, Lincoln Memorial; Debola Ogunseve, Newberry; Gary Higgins, Lenoir-Rhyne; and Kerrin Sheldon, Wingate.

Carson-Newman

Dario Carrasco	Tyler Baldock

Baldock secured 10 shutouts and recorded 37 saves to help lead the Eagles to the regular season South Atlantic Conference title. He is the SAC's career leader in shutouts with 37 in his four-year career. Dario Carrasco led the Eagles with 23 goals in 2006 and earned the SAC Co-Player Of the Year award. Ostvold started 17 games and scored one goal. He led a C-N defensive unit that allowed just 10 goals all season.

Freshman forward Omar Cooke headlines the All-Appalachian Region second team. Cooke scored eight goals and provided eight assists in his rookie season. David Carrasco received second team accolades as a midfielder. He scored three goals and dished four assists this season.

The Eagles finished 15-2-2 in 2006 and advanced to the NCAA Appalachian Regional Tournament.

Lenoir-Rhyne

Ged Quinn	Amar Brkic	Gary Higgins

Senior defender Ged Quinn (Jarrow, England/Univ. of Newcastle Upon-Tyne) and freshman forward Amar Brkic (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds HS) were selected to the first team while sophomore midfielder Gary Higgins (Paisley, Scotland/St. Andrews Academy) earned second-team accolades.

Quinn was recently named the 2006 South Atlantic Conference Co-MVP, the first Lenoir-Rhyne player to win the award, and was selected to the NCAA Division II Appalachian Regional All-Tournament squad. Of Quinn's four goals this year, three were game-winners.

Brkic led the team in goals (13) and points (26) including three game-winners and two hat tricks.

Higgins topped the team in assists (nine) to go along with five goals and 19 points and, like Quinn, earned playoff all-tournament accolades as well.

Lenoir-Rhyne just wrapped up its best season in school history, finishing with a 19-1-1 record overall to go along with the 2006 Food Lion SAC Tournament Championship and a berth in the NCAA Division II Regional Finals. The Bears were also ranked as high as fifth in the nation.

Catawba

Nathan Zuzga

Zuzga (Troy, MI), a senior, led Catawba with 13 goals and in total points with 32 as he ranked second with six assists. He ranked fifth in the South Atlantic Conference in both goals and points per game. Four of his goals were game winners.

Villiard (Holiday, FL), a junior, led the team with eight assists, which ranked sixth in the league. He added six goals, the third most on the squad and ranked second in total points with 20. He scored a pair of game-winning goals.

Catawba posted an 11-9 record in 2006 and advanced to the NCAA II Appalachian Region Tournament for the third straight season.

Lincoln Memorial

On the heels of the University's first NCAA Division II men's soccer regional championship, the Lincoln Memorial University men's soccer team received word Tuesday that four of its members had been named All-Appalachian Region.

Diogo Silvy	Leandro Pereira
Filipe Nogueira	Brent Cole

Named First Team Daktronics All-Appalachian Region were senior Diogo Silvy (Santa Catarina, Brazil), freshman Leandro Pereira (Brasilia, Brazil) and freshman Filipe Nogueira (Uberaba, Brazil).

Silvy, a four-year starter for the Railsplitters earns his second year with all-region honors. A 5'11" midfielder, Silvy ranks second on the team this season in goals scored with 14 and third in assists with four. His contributions over the past four years have helped the Railsplitters achieve a Gulf South Conference regular season title in 2004, a GSC tournament championship in 2005, an Appalachian Region Championship this season, along with a win in the NCAA Division II Elite 8 last Sunday of Northern Kentucky University and a spot in this week's NCAA Division II Final Four in Pensacola, Florida.

Pereira, a forward in his first season for the Railsplitters has been an immediate impact on the program, leading the Railsplitters in goals scored (20) and ranking second on the squad in assists with nine. His efforts in the region tournament as well as the Elite 8 win over NKU were instrumental in the Railsplitter's success.

The final Railsplitter to make the Daktronics All-Region First Team, Filipe Nogueira, was selected for his defensive performance this season. Despite playing near the end of the Railsplitter defensive formation, Nogueira managed to score six goals and contribute two assists this season for LMU. Late in the regular season schedule, his ability to move to the sweeper position due to an injury to teammate Vitor Souza has been a huge key to Lincoln Memorial's ability to move into this week's NCAA Final Four.

Making the 2006 Daktronics All-Appalachian Region Second Team was goalkeeper Brent Cole (Knoxville, Tennessee). Throughout the season, Cole has helped the Railsplitters record eight shutouts, while making the game-winning save in the region championship shootout with Lenoir-Rhyne and five spectacular saves against NKU in the Elite 8 finals.

This Thursday the Railsplitters (15-1-3) and ranked #16 nationally, will take on defending national champion Fort Lewis of Colorado in the NCAA Division II semi-finals. Fort Lewis enters the match with a #2 national ranking and boasts an overall record of 20-1-1. The match will be televised by CSTV and will also be broadcast over the internet via streaming video at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 8:00 p.m. Central.

Newberry

Ogunseye (Lagos, Nigeria) becomes the second Indian named to an all-region team since the program's revival in 1995, and the first since Rick Ladimir made the NSCAA all-region team in 2001. He was also named to the first team All-South Atlantic Conference team at the conclusion of the season and earned SAC Player of the Week honors on October 10.

Ogunseye scored 16 goals and six assists in his inaugural season at Newberry for a total of 38 points in 17 matches. He is now fifth in the Newberry record books for points in a career, and third for points in a single season at the school. Ogunseye's average of 2.38 points per game ranks him ninth nationally in NCAA Division II in that category.

The team finished in third place in the South Atlantic Conference, and hosted a Food Lion SAC Tournament match for the first time in program history. Newberry finished the season 8-9-0, with a 3-3-0 record in SAC action.

Wingate

Sheldon (Moatsville, W.Va.) was named first team All-South Atlantic Conference in 2006. He was a second team All-SAC selection in 2005. During the 2006 season, Sheldon led the Bulldogs with seven goals. He was four-for-four on penalty kicks, tops on the 2006 team charts.

In addition, Sheldon was second on the team with two match-winning goals. Sheldon and his defensive mates allowed only 1.78 goals per match in 2006.

Earlier this month, Kerrin Sheldon was named to the 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III men's soccer first team (college division), selected by CoSIDA. He sports a 3.87 GPA in his Communication Studies major.

2006 Daktronics Men's Soccer
All-Appalachian Region Teams

FIRST TEAM
GK Tyler Baldock, Carson-Newman
F Leandro Pereira, Lincoln Memorial
F Dario Carrasco, Carson-Newman
F Amar Brkic, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF Diogo Silvy, Lincoln Memorial
MF Nathan Zuzga, Catawba
MF Ryan Villard, Catawba
DEF Ged Quinn, Lenoir-Rhyne
DEF Thomas Ostvold, Carson-Newman
DEF Makesi Bostic, Davis & Elkins
DEF Filipe Nogueira, Lincoln Memorial

SECOND TEAM
GK Brent Cole, Lincoln Memorial
F Omar Cooke, Carson-Newman
F Debola Ogunseve, Newberry
F Chris Fawcett, Seton Hill
MF Gary Higgins, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF David Carassco, Carson-Newman
MF Guilherme Fonsesca, Shepherd
DEF Kerrin Sheldon, Wingate
DEF Andrew Meikle, WV Wesleyan
DEF Joseph Burkland, WV Wesleyan
DEF Daryle Ferguson, Seton Hill